


and when you want to live (where do you go?)

by vermontghost



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Ficlet, Hurt/Comfort, Koschei Oakdown - Freeform, M/M, The Doctor - Freeform, Theta Sigma - Freeform, Thoschei, angsty fluff, slight gore. very slight gore, the Master - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vermontghost/pseuds/vermontghost
Summary: Theta and Koschei slow dance in silence.
Relationships: The Doctor (Academy Era) & The Master (Academy Era), The Doctor (Academy Era)/The Master (Academy Era), The Doctor | Theta Sigma & The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era), The Doctor | Theta Sigma/The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	and when you want to live (where do you go?)

He paces the darkened room like a shadow, hands pulling at hair the darkest of browns.   
Wood paneled walls surround him, his bed in the corner of the room by the window, white curtains billowing in the wind.   
He sits on the ground, head falling back onto the scarlet covers. Tears trace his cheeks.   
He wipes them away with the sleeve of his academy uniform, but still they trail down his face as he holds his head in his hands. 

  
What was the point? The point of waking in the morning only to fall asleep again? T he point of having his mind ravaged by the same four beats again and again, every moment of every hour, and hoping the next day would be different? It never was.   
His hands begin to shake, and he's afraid. Afraid of the notions that sparked in his head.   
He looked down and he could see blood on his hands, but blinked and it was gone. 

He'd failed most of his classes. His Gallifreyan history teacher had looked at him like someone looks at a once-beautiful camera which now can only take blurred photos.   
Perhaps that's what his life was. A series of out-of-focus snapshots -

The shutters click. Theta and him, but no one could tell if they were laughing or kissing or crying.  
The shutters click. The yells of _Koschei, what the hell are you doing_ echoing across the hallways as he ran. He never knew what he was running to.  
The shutters click. A body on the ground.

A knock sounds on the door, and he recognized the knock. always two knocks, because with four the pounding of his head reigned.   
Theta. 

He wanders in, soft light brown curls bouncing as he walks.   
Theta knows the moment he saw the figure on the ground. 

He kneels down and rests his hands against the sides of Koschei's face.   
And he listens. He listens to the thoughts that run after each other like herds of elk, listens to the drums pounding like a never-ending ballad. Listens to the screams and the images and the delusions of destruction.

He moves his hand over to Koschei's chest - over his heartbeat. _onetwothreefour._ _"You are alive,"_ he whispers. _"You are here. you are now."_  
He offers a hand, and the boy with dark hair stands up. He wraps trembling arms around the small of Theta's waist, and arms wrap around his shoulders. 

For a moment, they stand there, the wind whispering through the room.   
Slowly, ever so slowly, they begin to lean from side to side.   
They step in unison, tracing a box with their feet, foreheads pressed together.   
They dance for minutes or hours, but neither of them know how long, the only music the gentle howling of the wind outside. 

And for a fraction of a second, Koschei smiles. 

later, Koschei will want to savor that memory like a summertime peach, trying to remember the feel of Theta's embrace.   
because this is the last time for a very long time, perhaps forever - the last time that they will be okay. 


End file.
